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rfmcdonaldPeople like me who remember the recent TTC strike and wanted to declare the TTC an essential service that could not be disrupted by strikes should probably remember this news article.
The report is available at: http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/ebrief_62.pdf
TORONTO, Sept. 11 /CNW/ - Designating public services as "essential" may be aimed at protecting public safety by guaranteeing service availability, but it can be costly to the public purse, according to a report released today by the C. D. Howe Institute. Evidence from across Canada shows that declaring a ublic service to be essential drives up negotiated wage increases by 13 percent, drives up hourly wages by up to 0.8 percent and does not necessarily
reduce strikes or other job actions. To draw these conclusions, reported in "No Free Ride: The Cost of Essential Services Designation," Policy Analyst Benjamin Dachis examined 6,721 public sector contract settlements involving at least 500 employees over the last 30 years, and reports on what happens when services are designated essential. Toronto City Councillors are set to debate whether to ask the province to designate the Toronto Transit Commission as an essential service: Dachis says policymakers should weigh the cost of that designation against the uncertain benefits of service continuation.
The report is available at: http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/ebrief_62.pdf
